Clinical trials

With some conditions, the treatment might still be in development. Before it is ready for general release, it needs to be tested on people with the condition. These are called Clinical Trials. They are voluntary. The James Lind Library has been designed to increase general knowledge about tests of treatments. If you are interested in taking part in a clinical trial, the James Lind Library has published guidance here. There is also information about how to find a clinical trial. A good starting point for finding clinical trials is ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the US National Institutes of Health, which currently has details of more than 80,000 trials with locations in 171 countries. Speak to your doctor or nurse if you want to become involved in a trial.

Books

Books are another good source of comprehensive health information. The only drawback is that they can go quickly out-of-date, particularly with new conditions, where improved treatments continue to be discovered. The other thing to remember is the author and publisher of the book. Are they qualified? Do they have conflicting interests, eg drug company sponsorship? When searching for a book, the British Library website is useful for getting the bibliographic details, which you can take to your local public library or bookshop. The Catalogue Records contain details of the books. You can also find and order articles by keeping the Journal Articles option ticked.